Page 14 of Red Zone Realizations
“And how would you like that cooked?”
“Medium rare.” He nods, turning to Noah.
I can see Noah considering me. Everyone tries to tell you that a filet is the best cut of steak, but they’re wrong. I’vealways found them dry and underwhelming. A ribeye—with its melt in your mouth marbling—is the perfect steak. I won’t be denied the enjoyment of a good piece of meat because I should be ordering a female-sized dinner. I got a salad too.It’s called balance.
Chapter Eight
NOAH
I’ve died and gone to heaven.
That ribeye is definitely going to be as big as her face. I’ve treated myself to it after a hard practice once or twice.
What an amazing woman.
She knows what she wants, and she’s going to get it.
“What are your teammates like?” she asks, taking a sip of her water.
“Well, Wyatt is our new defensive lineman. This is his first season here. He played for Green Bay during his rookie years. He’s from Wisconsin, very much a Midwesterner. Jaden is from Louisiana originally, so he’s dealing with the heat much better than Wyatt. He’s also been here a few years, about as long as me. Colin is my best friend on the team. He and his college sweetheart got married last year. Mack is our team class clown. I don’t think the man has ever been embarrassed in his life. He just wants to have a good time. Nice to have someone who’s a glass half full kind of guy. I think that’s my main group. The ones I see outside of the required organized team activities.”
“They sound like a fun bunch.”
“It’s kind of a circus, but in a fun way.” I butter another piece of fresh-baked bread. I shouldn’t fill up on this stuff, but I can’t resist. “What about you?”
“My work team is just me. But in regular life it’s me and my childhood best friend Nicole. We’ve known each other since kindergarten. We went to different colleges, but never lost touch. It’s so nice to live close to her again. She’s a nurse, so she works holidays and weekends. Hard to get together, but we make it work by DVRingSurvivorand saving it to watch together.”
“It’s nice to be so close to a friend again. What about your family? Do they live here?”
She looks down at the butter on her knife as she spreads it slowly on her bread. “They do. They run Space City Auto, the car shops. We have a… strained relationship. There are things in life they thought I would do, but I took a different path.”
“Like what?”
“Like not joining the family business in preparation to take it over one day. My brother, Lane, is going to, though, so I don’t know what the big deal is.”
“That’s it?” Her eyes go back to her bread plate.
“Among other things, yeah.” I’m going to ask more questions, but she doesn’t let me get a word in edgewise.
“What about your folks?” she asks.
It’s my turn to fiddle with the napkin on my lap. “My dad was a pro football player as well; now he coaches a local team. We also had a strained relationship, but it got better when I went into the league. It’s what he always wanted for me. My mom and I are really close. She’s responsible for me not becoming an overly macho, testosterone alpha. She’s also responsible for all my southern gentleman manners.”
Audrey laughs at this and it’s the sound of bells ringing just for me. “I like her already.”
Our food comes and I struggle to hold conversation because my focus is on every bite that passes through those lips. When another bite of soft bread touches her tongue, little noises of appreciation escape her mouth and go straight through me, rewiring my brain. I will never come to this restaurant again without replaying this meal in my head. I give myself a mental shake as Audrey talks animatedly about her guinea pigs, Reba and Dolly. “They sound super cute. I’ve never held a guinea pig before. We didn’t really have pets growing up.”
“It takes them a second to warm up, but I’ll let you feed them, and they’ll be your best friends.” A smile spreads across my face. She’s already planning on seeing me again.
I insist we order dessert, just to keep the night going. “The crème brûlée here is amazing. We have to get that.”
When the custard comes, I let her crack the torched sugar. I’m barely hanging on by a thread as I watch her slowly put the silver spoon in her mouth. Her eyes close in ecstasy as she savors the sweet cream flavor, and I feel her little noise of delight all the way to my toes.
The conversation so far has been meandering and comfortable. Like we are getting to know each other, but also like I’ve always known her. I can feel the familiarity in my chest and absentmindedly put a hand there to settle the feeling. I’ve never been a guy to get so deep so quickly. I’m a professional football player, for fuck’s sake. If I fell for every girl who gave me a lick of attention, I’d have been married and divorced ten times by now. She didn’t even flinch when I told her about my NFL career. It seems to have no effect on herwhatsoever, which is nice. I guess that comes with the territory of managing the mildly famous influencers.
I tear my eyes away from Audrey’s radiance for a millisecond to catch sight of the chef coming toward us. Pia likes to come out and greet my guests and get their honest opinion of the food since I can’t be impartial. She’s my age, cheeks pinked from the heat of the kitchen, and her hair is tucked under her toque.
I look back at Audrey. “Excuse me.” I push my chair back and put my napkin on the table so I can hug Pia. Audrey catches the familiarity and rises as well.
